The Mullin Automotive Museum, a Southern California institution devoted to the preservation of French art and automobiles from the Art Deco era, announced it will premiere an exhibition called The Art of Bugatti in Spring 2014. The exhibit will debut as the largest assembled collection of Bugatti artifacts and automobiles, and will pay tribute to the Bugatti family’s enduring genius and creativity.
All of the Bugatti family members exerted significant influence in their times and in various fields. The Museum will house more than 50 pieces of furniture and also paintings by Patriarch Carlo Bugatti and granddaughter Lydia Bugatti, numerous sculptures by son, Rembrandt, and the largest private collection of Bugatti automobiles in the world created by son Ettore and grandson Jean Bugatti.
The Art of Bugatti brings together dozens of Bugatti models, including early 20th century carriages; an early Brescia race car; the race-winning Types 35, 37 and 51; Jean Bugatti’s Fiacre and Atlantic Coupé; the Type 57 C Aravis and Atalante; and the incomparable Type 41 Bugatti Royale. The collection will also display select unrestored automobiles from the Schlumpf Reserve Collection, as well as the new generation of Bugatti automobile prototypes, culminating with the record-setting Bugatti Veyron.
The retrospective will include an extensive overview of the Bugatti family’s influence on the automobile as art. Many of the pieces will be exhibited and explored through drawings and factory artifacts, many unseen by the public prior to this exhibition. “We are so pleased to pay homage and respect to the beautiful masterworks of the Bugatti family,” said Peter Mullin, Founder and Chairman of the Mullin Automotive Museum. “For the first time ever under one roof, this will showcase the full scope of the Bugatti family’s varied expertise, creativity, technique, innovation, and appreciation of beauty and design.”
Following the intended run of the exhibition, the materials will form part of a traveling show available for presentation at museums and venues throughout the world.
